Wide receiver Jacoby Ford had an exhibition opener to forget Monday night against Dallas, and that’s exactly what he’s been trying to do.
Ford dropped a pair of passes on one drive. He muffed a punt. On the Raiders first drive, quarterback Carson Palmer tried to hit him on a deep pass down the left sideline, but Cowboys safety Gerald Sensabaugh made an interception, a theft that Ford barely made an effort to prevent.
“It’s definitely not the way I wanted to come out and put anything on film like that,” Ford said Wednesday after practice. “But you know, games like that happen and that’s why you’ve got to have a short-term memory and put it behind you. Good thing is it’s preseason so you kind of just put that behind you now and kind of just go into the next game, work on improvements the next time.”
Ford missed six straight games with a sprained foot last year before returning for the season-finale against San Diego. Ford had been having a solid camp until Monday night’s game. He said he might have been a little “anxious” Monday night after missing so much time last year.
“I was excited to get back out there, and I just want to go out and perform better for the team,” Ford said. “I didn’t perform at all the way that I wanted to, but that’s preseason. So whenever it comes to the regular games, we’ll be ready.”
Raiders coach Dennis Allen said he’s not worried about one bad game.
“He didn’t play up to his expectations or our expectations in the game the other day,” Allen said. “It’s one football game. It’s not the end of the world. He knows, we all know, we all got to get better. Every single one of us out there, we expect to get better, one day to the next.
“We got to put that one behind us because there’s not anything we can do about the last one. … He’s done a good job of putting it behind him. He’s ready to go back to work, and we got all the confidence in the world in Jacoby Ford.”
McFadden’s return: Running back Darren McFadden expected to have the ball in hands on the first drive Monday night against Dallas. But on the first three plays from scrimmage?
“We always do a top 15 (plays), but you never know how the ball is going to bounce when you get out there,” McFadden said. “Just so happened all the plays ended up coming to me, and it felt good just to be back out there, running around and able to show people that I am back healthy and ready to play ball.”
McFadden suited up for the first time since suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury of his right foot in Week 7 against Kansas City last year. On the Raiders first play from scrimmage, he hit right end for four yards. After that, he caught an 18-yard screen pass then ran for 16.
“It’s like a weight off your shoulders when you go out there, just being able to make plays,” he said. “So it felt great.”
McFadden’s only regret is that he didn’t take the screen pass all the way for a touchdown.
“When I looked at the screen (on tape), it was one of those deals, I should have took it all the way, pretty much,” McFadden said. “It’s one-on-one with the safety. You’re supposed to make him miss and get down the field. But you hate moving around in the dirt (infield) like that, so I was happy with the yards that I did get.”
Raiders coach Dennis Allen said McFadden can expect some more work Friday night at Arizona.
“I’m looking forward to it,” McFadden said. “Whatever he decides to throw at me, I’m the type of guy, I’m going out there and taking it, and I’m going to be ready for it.”
Extra points: Rookie LB Mario Kurn and former Giants WR Duke Calhoun were waived-injured. Both of them suffered season-ending knee injuries last week. If they clear waivers, as expected, they’ll be placed on injured reserve.
OL Ed Wang (shoulder), FB Rashawn Jackson (hip), DT Jamie Cumbie (foot) and C Stefen Wisniewski (calf) missed practice with minor injuries. “All those are kind of bumps and bruises, but we’ll see what happens come Friday night,” Allen said. “Short turnaround.”
Wide receiver Eddie McGee (hamstring) returned to practice, but WR Denarius Moore (hamstring) and Taiwan Jones (hamstring) remained sidelined, as did TE Brandon Myers (shoulder), OT Zach Hurd (head), P Shane Lechler (knee) and LB Aaron Curry (knees). Curry is still in Los Angeles, being treated by a specialist.
